A.P. MOLLER SEES BOOM IN SHIPPING RESULTS

A.P. MOLLER SEES BOOM IN SHIPPING RESULTS    A.P. Moller reported net profits of 1.1 billion Danish Krone ($133 million) from its main shipping subsidiaries for the first half of the year, an improvement of 53 percent.
   The result compares with net profits from shipping of DKr726 million in the first half of 1999.
   The figures for A.P. Moller’s shipping business are the combined results of its three shipping subsidiaries: Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg, Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 and Tankers and Liners in Partnership. Most of the business results of Maersk Sealand, the world’s largest container shipping line, are included in those of the Tankers and Liners in Partnership unit.
   The combined revenue from shipping for the first half of the year was DKr34 billion ($4.1 billion), up by 75 percent on the year-earlier period. The revenue boost is partly caused by the takeover of Sea-Land in December 1999.
   Result from shipping before gains on sales and special items increased by 34 percent, to DKr1.9 billion ($222 million), from DKr1.4 billion.
   A.P. Moller said that the result for its container shipping business was better than that for the first half of 1999. “Cargo volumes increased substantially as a result of the acquisition of Sea-Land, supported by general growth in world trade,” a spokesman for A.P. Moller said. Operational unit costs were reduced and average freight rates for dry cargo increased. Reefer container rates fell.
   “The integration of Sea-Land went as planned,” the spokesman said.
   The group’s crude carrier tanker business produced a result that was similar to that of the same period last year. Product carriers and gas carriers had a “notably better” result, while bulk and special carriers also had improved results, the Danish group said.
   A.P. Moller expects its shipping activities to produce a full-year result before exchange rate adjustments and other special items that will be “substantially above that of 1999.”
   The Tankers and Liners in Partnership subsidiary reported a sharp improvement in its results. Net profit increased six-fold to DKr321 million ($39 million), from DKr55 million in the first half of 1999. Result before gains on sales and special items increased by 66 percent, to DKr976 million ($117 million), from DKr587 million. Revenue increased by 78 percent, to DKr33.5 billion ($4 billion), from DKr18.8 million.